


That Glint In Your Eyes

by nico_neo



Series: Worth The Pain [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boxing, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Boxing & Fisticuffs, Haechan and Jaemin are best friends, Haechan is a cutie, Jeno Needs A Hug, Jeno is a underground boxer, M/M, Shitty family situation, With Mark too, Yuta and Taeyong are mentioned, underground boxing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-13 23:49:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14758628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nico_neo/pseuds/nico_neo
Summary: Mark takes Donghyuck and Jaemin to a underground boxing show.And even though he didn't want to go, Donghyuck will find himself going back every week after that.





	That Glint In Your Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> I thought i was never going to see the end of it, too much ideas for this. Well, now it's done lol
> 
> So basically this story is kind of linked to 'Worth The Pain', it's okay if you haven't read it but some infos can be confusing even though it's still understandable. But some characters are linked to one another, you'll see in the story ~
> 
> If i have to give some spoiler for what will happen uuuuh.... 
> 
> Jeno needs a hug.
> 
> That's it lol.
> 
> Don't hesitate to point out any grammar/language mistakes btw!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Donghyuck was peacefully on his phone, not really doing something interesting but he was bored, so it kept him occupied. And Jaemin seemed to be sleeping, so he had nothing better to do. He was, however, disturbed by Mark, who sat abruptly next to him on the grass of the schoolyard. Not expecting to see him, Donghyuck jumped out of fear, bringing a hand to his heart. Jaemin jerked awake from his sudden movement and rubbed his sleepy eyes, not understanding what was going on.

“Jeez Mark.” Donghyuck whispered, taking a deep breath. “Warn next time.”

“Sorry.” Mark laughed, not sorry at all.

“What is it?” Jaemin asked, still trying to figure what was going on.

“I found what we are going to do tonight.” Mark announced, smiling.

“And what are we doing?” Donghyuck asked.

“I don’t tell you.” Mark said. “But Jaemin knows what I’m talking about.” He looked at Jaemin with a knowing smile.

The younger furrowed his eyebrows for a few seconds before his eyes brightened and he shot him his signature smile.

“Yes!” He shout-whispered.

“You guys are mean.” Donghyuck pout.

“You’ll see when we’ll get there.” Mark patted him on the shoulder.

Now, Donghyuck was curious. What was this thing Mark wanted to show them but didn’t want to tell out loud?

The school bell rang, signalizing them that they had to go back to class. Donghyuck sighed and stood up, grabbing his bag and looked back at Mark.

“I’ll come fetch you up. Be prepared at six!” He waved at them and went to his class.

“What does he want to show us?” Donghyuck asked Jaemin while they were heading to the school building.

“He brought me there once. At first I was like “what the hell?” but as time passed I enjoyed it… even though it can be… violent.” Jaemin explained mysteriously.

“Doesn’t tell me what it is.” Donghyuck pouted again but Jaemin quickly wrapped an arm around his neck and shot him a bright smile.

“If I tell you, you’ll run away.” Jaemin laughed. “So, just wait and see.”

“Just a hint?” Donghyuck gave him his best puppy eyes.

Jaemin looked at him for several seconds before sighing.

“Ok, just one.” He warned. “You remember my cousin Yuta? Well, that can be a hint.”

Donghyuck stopped walking, and Jaemin wanted to laugh at the face he was making.

“A fucking boxing match?” Donghyuck nearly screamed.

Jaemin shushed him with a wave of his hand and shook his head.

“Yeah, a boxing match.” Jaemin nodded. “But… A little bit different.”

Donghyuck just had time to let out a confused “Uh?!” before Jaemin dragged him to their class.

 

At six, Mark was in front of his house, honking to let him acknowledge his presence.

Donghyuck got up from his couch and said goodbye to his parents. He would probably end up sleeping to Mark’s with Jaemin anyway, so he had taken his bag with him.

He got out of his house and entered Mark’s car. Jaemin was sitting in the passenger seat, so he had to sit at the back. The two others looked at him with a smile.

“Ready to go?” Mark asked.

“Just go!” Donghyuck slapped him on the shoulder but the elder just laugh before he started driving.

Jaemin turned back to look at him once more.

“Did you finally find where we were going?” He asked.

“To a boxing match, you told me this afternoon.”

“No, I didn’t.” Jaemin laughed a bit. “I told you Yuta was a hint. But it’s not an ordinary boxing match.”

“A wrestling show then?” Donghyuck tried.

“Let it go.” Jaemin snorted.

If it wasn’t a wrestling show, then what is it?

 

They arrived several minutes later at what seemed to be a sports hall. Mark parked his car on the parking lot, and the three of them got out of the car. Donghyuck looked at the sports hall with furrowed eyebrows, but he said nothing. He just followed his friend towards the entry.

Mark opened the door for them and they entered. He passed over them once again and headed to the stairs that were leading to the basement. Donghyuck eyebrows furrowed even more but just like before, he didn’t say anything. Once they were downstairs, Mark pushed the metal door open and they were welcomed by a crowd of people chatting together with some loud music in the background. But the most important thing was standing in the middle of the room.

A boxing ring, with two boxers inside of it.

But there was a detail that caught Donghyuck attention.

They didn’t wear any gloves.

And it was at this moment that realization hit him.

“You took us to bare knuckle boxing matches.” He said to Mark.

“Finally!” Jaemin whispered, joining his hand in front of his face.

“What the hell?”

“Relax, it’s not illegal.” Mark assured but lost his smile a bit when his brows furrowed, and his eyes set on the ground. “Well… Maybe it’s not totally legal either.” He whispered.

“Awesome, we’re doing illegal things now.” Donghyuck said.

“Don’t say that as if you didn’t want to do illegal things once in your life.” Jaemin rolled his eyes. “And it’s okay, only those who know there is a show tonight know that it’s happening.”

“And I wouldn’t be here if Doyoung wasn’t here, you know.” Mark nudged him and smiled.

“Your cousin?” Donghyuck asked.

“Yeah.” Mark nodded. “He’s… a kind of manager here. Well… he trains boxer and make them compete in shows like this. To earn money.” He explained.

“And if you look closely.” Jaemin wrapped an arm around Donghyuck shoulders and pointed the crowd with his finger. “There are only people our age here. And a bit older. But no disgusting man over thirty-five years old, tattooed everywhere. So relax, you’re going to like it.”

“I don’t know if I’ll enjoy seeing people punching each other until there are not able to move anymore.”

“You forgot when there’s blood.” Jaemin whispered to his ear.

“Shut up.” Donghyuck groaned.

Donghyuck sighed and passed his hand in his red locks. Well, he didn’t really have a choice, does he?

“Come on.” Mark pushed them. “I see Doyoung right there.”

“Oh! Right on time.” Jaemin smiled and followed Mark, pulling Donghyuck behind him.

When they reached Doyoung, a black-haired male, he welcomed them with a warm smile.

“The match will start soon.” He informed them.

“You’ll see.” Jaemin turned to Donghyuck and pointed to Doyoung with his thumb. “Jeno’s his best protégé.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s the best in here. He has more victories in his hit list than defeats. And he’s our age by the way.” Jaemin informed him.

Donghyuck was going to ask him more precisions but suddenly, the crowd burst out in shouts and fists in the air. The red-haired turned his attention back to the ring and discovered the reason of this scrap.

There was a tall blonde-haired male in the ring. He was wearing a black boxing short as well as a black tank top, which made his hair stand out. He had bandages around his knuckles, but Donghyuck was certain it wasn’t really useful, according to the situation. Soon after, a light-brown haired male entered the ring and faced the taller one.

Doyoung stoop up in the ring corner and whispered into the blonde boy ear, who nodded his head at every words.

“This is Jeno.” Mark told him, pointed at the blonde boy.

“Donghyuck, you’re drooling, close your mouth.” Jaemin laughed.

Donghyuck didn’t have any courage to slap him. Instead, he was mesmerized by the boy’s face. He was beautiful. Even though Donghyuck could see fainted marks on his jaw, he was still beautiful. When the boy turned his head, their eyes met and Donghyuck swore he couldn’t hear anything anymore. He was lost in the other dark pupils and was going to go even deeper if the boy hadn’t turn his head when Doyoung tapped him on the shoulder.

“Wow. He’s in love.” He heard Jaemin whispered to Mark, who just laughed.

“I’m glad I took him here then.” He said, still laughing.

“Shut up.” Donghyuck groaned to them.

Jeno and the other boxer -his name is Renjun, Donghyuck asked Mark- were facing each other. There was a referee between the two of them, who was certainly reminding them the rules. Once done, he stepped back, and the boys began walking around each other, analyzing the other carefully. They made several punching tentative, but they always stepped back anytime the other was going to punch. Finally, it’s Renjun who made the first move, which was avoid perfectly by Jeno, who threw back a punch in the other’s face. Then, it all went fast. Jeno and Renjun threw punches after punches to each other, touching ribs, abs and face and made blood flow. Jeno threw a last and decisive punch in Renjun’s face, who fell on the ground. The referee stopped the match, and an explosion of screams made is way to Donghyuck’s ears.

Doyoung stood up in the ring corner, where another man was too, giving him bills. Doyoung shook his hand and came back to Jeno, handing him half of it. Jeno took it with a small smile and Doyoung pulled him into a quick hug before he disappeared somewhere in the crowd.

Jeno turned back to look at him once more. Their eyes met, and Donghyuck lost himself in his dark pupils, once more. The blonde-haired boy shot him a soft smile and got out of the ring. Donghyuck wanted to go after him, but he disappeared in the crowd.

 

Donghyuck couldn’t forget about Jeno’s eyes. It’s been days that they haunted him. Inside of his pupils, Donghyuck had seen something he hadn’t see the first time, a glint he couldn’t name. But that got him even more curious.

He always asked Mark to take him at every show, hoping to see Jeno again. He did. And every time, he hoped he could finally talk to the boy face to face, and lost himself in his eyes, and named this unknown glint that was shining in it. But every time, Jeno disappeared before he could have the chance to talk to him. But the blonde-haired always shot him a look and his soft smile before he got out of the ring.

But one day, he finally got to talk to Jeno. It was maybe months after he first went with Mark and Jaemin, but he didn’t know, he had stopped counting anyway.

That night, Jeno was facing a new face. A tall and muscular guy named Yukhei. And, from what Donghyuck had heard, he had never lost. This reminded him a bit of Jaemin’s cousin, Yuta and his boyfriend Taeyong, but that’s another story.

As always, Jeno was clothed with his black boxing short and his black tank top. He had marks on his jaws and knuckles, as usual but today, Donghyuck saw a recent cut on his right eyebrow arch, and that the boy was discreetly massaging his left side, at the level of his ribs.

That wasn’t good, Donghyuck thought.

The referee started the match, and contrary to his usual behavior, which was observing the opponent before attacking, Jeno attacked right away. Which was his mistake.

By his size, Yukhei quickly took over him and assault him with a strong punch. Jeno fell back on his bad side but managed to get up anyway. He succeeded to punch Yukhei in the ribs, but the giant punched him right after, square in the jaw. Jeno fell back again but didn’t get up this time, breathing heavily on the floor.

Donghyuck didn’t realized he was walking straight to the ring surrounding that he already was near Jeno’s corner. The blonde-haired was rolling to get out, and Donghyuck saw blood flowing down his mouth. He must have bite his lip when Yukhei punched him.

Donghyuck was going to say something, but Doyoung came to Jeno before he could open his mouth.

“I’m sorry kiddo.” He patted Jeno’s shoulder gently.

“I can…” Jeno swallowed and spoke again. “I can do another match.”

“No you can’t.” Doyoung shook his head. “You did your best, it’s okay.”

“I need the money.” Jeno gripped Doyoung’s shirt with his bloody hand. “Please, Doyoung…”

“I’m sorry. Go back home.” Doyoung sent him a sorry smile and walked away.

Jeno was going to follow him but he tripped and nearly fall face first to the floor if it wasn’t for Donghyuck catching him in his arms.

“Hey, hey it’s okay.” Donghyuck whispered, stabilizing them.

Jeno looked up at him. He looked dizzy and Donghyuck could see that the familiar glint in his eyes was replaced by what seemed to be sadness, and also discouragement. But Jeno managed to shoot him a small smile, but this one wasn’t revealing his teeth.

“Oh, it’s you.” He said.

“Yeah, I guess…”

“I see you every week.” Jeno said, pitifully. “I’m glad I can finally see you closer.”

“Well, with this blood flowing from your eyebrow arch I don’t know if you can see properly but yeah I’m glad to see you closer too.”  Donghyuck smiled.

Jeno laughed softly and let his body slide to the floor, his back against the ring. Donghyuck kneeled in front him.

“Don’t you have any doctors to take care of you?” Donghyuck asked, looking everywhere, searching for a said doctor.

“It’s not professional boxing.” Jeno mumbled. “Nobody’s going to take care of you after you’ve been beaten.”

Donghyuck looked at him with wide eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m used to it.”

“I get you to the hospital then.”

“And what will you say? That there’s teenagers who are doing bare knuckle boxing match when it’s not totally legal?” Jeno looked at him with a grin, but it soon vanished to be replaced by a pained expression. “Why do you want to help me anyway?”

“Because you’re not good and I certainly won’t let you like that.” Donghyuck answered, as if it was an evidence. “And also because you piqued my curiosity.”

“And how did I do that?” Jeno was looking at him, and the glint was back.

“Because of this glint you have in your eyes.” Donghyuck pointed his eyes with his finger. “It looks like…Loneliness…”

Jeno didn’t respond at first, he just looked at him, straight in the eyes.

“Then you’re the first one to notice.”

 

When he came back the week after, Jeno wasn’t fighting that night. But his courage didn’t drop, so he decided to stay until the end. He was watching the matches without a real interest, he just hoped to see a familiar blonde-haired face appearing out of nowhere.

During the last match, someone made his way to him. The person was wearing a red hoodie, and the hood was covering his face, but Donghyuck saw blonde strands getting out of it.

“Jeno?” he asked.

The boy turned to him, getting rid of his hood. He had a blue marks on the left side of his jaw and the cuts on his bottom lips as well as on his eyebrow arch were still fresh. Donghyuck eyes softened.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Jeno just shrugged.

“I guess.”

“You’re not fighting tonight?”

“I can’t fight anymore.”

Donghyuck turned fully to face him.

“What?”

“Doyoung said he can’t keep me anymore. When you lose you make your manager lost money…You can’t fight again. It’s like that.” Jeno shrugged again. “And I came because I knew you would be here. And to let you know it was useless to search for me anymore, I won’t come back, I can’t anymore.”

Jeno turned to leave but Donghyuck grabbed his wrist to stop him.

“Wait.” He called him. “What are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know. Searching for a way to earn money. I’ll take what I find.”

“Why do you need to earn money this bad?”

Donghyuck didn’t understand.

Jeno looked around and took Donghyuck’s hand in his and leaded them out of the room. They ended up on the parking lot, and Jeno let go of Donghyuck’s wrist.

“Why did you drag me here?” He asked.

“It’s quieter.” Jeno answered, rubbing his neck. He looked back at the red-haired. “My mom needs medication. We don’t have enough money, she can’t work so I have to earn money for her. That’s it.”

“Why does she need medication for?” Donghyuck asked softly, looking carefully at Jeno.

Jeno swallowed and looked anywhere but at him.

“She’s sick.” He finally said. “She needs medication because she’s sick. She’s paying me school, the least I can do is paying for her treatment.”

“I’ve never saw you at school.”

“I’m home-schooled.” Jeno shot a tiny smile. “That way I can be with her if something happens.”

“Does she know? That you were bare knuckle boxing?”

Jeno shook his head. Their eyes met and Donghyuck saw that familiar glint. But know he finally understood why it was there. He walked slowly towards Jeno, and grabbed his fingers in his own, squeezing them softly.

“There are other ways to earn money than bare knuckle boxing. I don’t think your mom would like you to destroy your body like that.” He said gently.

“I know.” Jeno nodded, and his eyes were now gleaming with tears. “But it helps… I can forget when I’m boxing. I can evacuate my thoughts… I didn’t care ending punch drunk… I had money at the end and I felt better.”

Now, the tears in Jeno’s eyes were falling down his cheeks, and Donghyuck’s heart clenched at the view. He squeezed Jeno’s hand harder and put a hand on his neck to make him look at him.

“You’re not alone anymore, okay? I’m here now, and I’ll help you. Okay?”

Jeno nodded and the red-haired pulled him into a hug, careful to not hurt him. And when he felt Jeno’s arms around his waist, he felt good.

And Jeno would lie if he said he didn’t feel good too.

 

“You’re so in love, it’s almost cheesy.” Jaemin rolled his eyes behind his phone while Donghyuck was telling him what happened with Jeno a few days before.

“Shut up and listen!” Donghyuck slapped him on the shoulder. “I need your help to search for several jobs that could suit him.” He asked.

Jaemin lifted his eyes from his phone and looked at him.

“Seriously?”

“Stop looking at me like that!” Donghyuck whined. “I have a lot of ideas, but I can’t just pick one.”

Jaemin shook his head but smiled at him. He dropped his phone and turned fully to face his best friend.

“I’ll go basic.” Jaemin warned. “What about working at the little coffee shop near the school? Or there is a DVD shop a few streets away…”

Donghyuck looked at Jaemin like he was frozen. After several seconds, he got his phone out of his jean pocket and dialed a number.

“You know what, the only way to find out is to take him there.”

 

When Donghyuck entered the coffee, several months later, he spotted a familiar face behind the counter, working on the coffee machine. The red-haired smiled but hid it as he walked towards the (now) light-blue-haired boy. Jeno didn’t saw him so Donghyuck cleared his throat. Jeno jumped a little, surprised, but turned around. When he saw Donghyuck’s familiar face, he shot him his particular and beautiful smile and the younger couldn’t help but smile back at him.

Jeno finished what he was doing and came in front of him, behind the cash register.

“Do you want to order something?” Jeno asked him. “Wait, don’t tell me, I’ll do it. Just sit and wait for me. I need to tell you something.” He blushed a little at the end of his sentence, which made Donghyuck curious, but he didn’t say anything about it.

“Okay.” He nodded. “And I’m hungry too… I would like a cupcake please.” He punctuated his demand with a pout he knew Jeno couldn’t resist.

“Noted.” Jeno said, turning around.

Donghyuck looked at him a few seconds and turned back to search for a table. There weren’t many people, so he had the choice. He sat on one of the table near the windows, from where he could see the streets and the road.

He was lost contemplating people walking that he didn’t register that Jeno had come back with two cups and his cupcake. He came back to reality when he heard Jeno pulling his chair back to sit down. He looked at him. The barista outfit suited him very well. He stopped contemplating him and looked back at his eyes. The familiar glint wasn’t there. It was replaced by another one… But he couldn’t name it.

Jeno handed him one of the cup and smiled at him. Donghyuck thanked him.

“So…” Donghyuck started. “What was this thing you wanted to tell me.”

Jeno squirmed on his seat and played a bit with his own cup.

“Well I just… Wanted to thank you I guess?” Jeno looked quickly at Donghyuck’s eyes and looked back through the windows.

“Why?”

“I mean… You got me out of something that was literally… killing me slowly. Literally speaking. It was like… being addict to a drug. I couldn’t stop. But you came and… you saw what nobody has seen before… That glint you talked to me about.” Jeno looked shyly at Donghyuck and shyly took his hand in his. “The only thing I was thinking back then was to earn money to let my mom have his medication, I didn’t care what could have happen to me… Sometimes I even thought never getting up again wouldn’t be that bad… My mom barely recognizes me anyway…”

Donghyuck intertwined his fingers with Jeno’s and squeezed his hand.

“And… You literally had shaken everything in my life when you came to help me that night and… At first, I was… annoyed. Like, you came out of nowhere, then came back every week and telling me I should quit what I was practically living for?” He laughed a bit.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think you would feel like that… I didn’t think about it to be honest…” Donghyuck apologized.

“No, no, it’s okay.” Jeno assured him. “It’s better like that. I’m… I’m good now.” He smiled at Donghyuck. “You came, and you changed my life from A to Z and even though I kind of hated you at the beginning, say it’s the punches, I thought about it and… I owe you a lot… And… I’m really happy that you came that night.”

Donghyuck didn’t know why, but he could feel tears accumulating at the corners of his eyes. Jeno saw that and wiped them with the thumb from his hand which wasn’t holding Donghyuck’s hand.

“Don’t cry now, I’m not finished.” Jeno laughed.

“Because it’s not over?” Donghyuck whined. “Hey is it ‘make Donghyuck cry’ day or something?”

“That wasn’t my attention, I promise.”

Donghyuck sniffled and looked back at Jeno, who was sliding the second cup towards him. The red-haired boy furrowed his eyebrows but Jeno just smiled before turning the cup. There was a handwriting on it.

_And I would be even more happy if you accepted to be my boyfriend._

Donghyuck met Jeno’s eyes again. And he understood what was this glint he could see in it.

Affection, love.

There was a bit of apprehension too, but it quickly vanished when Jeno saw Donghyuck smiling.

“Of course, silly. Remember what I told you? You’re not alone anymore.”

And it’s when Donghyuck pulled him in a kiss that Jeno finally felt good and whole.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
>  
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/niconeo3)  
> [curiouscat](https://t.co/e1UnChL5kj)


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